Creating community or growing a community is challenging, and time consuming.
Going into my second semester as student media director for the Texas Wesleyan student newspaper, The Rambler,I am beginning to see the results of the long hours of work in the fall.
Students are "hanging out" in the office, showing a sense of pride, and really communing with each other. Success is in site on this front...at least until our seniors graduate.
This semester, I'm working to tackle on-campus perceptions.
Since journalists are held with about as much esteem as salesmen (just see the studies on this), my main focus has been to get to know people around campus and improve credibility.
Getting to know people takes time...something that I have a limited supply of as a full-time, tenure track faculty member and administrator of student media. So how do you get to know people and sustain relationships?
Well the getting to know people is pretty easy if you just schedule meetings. The sustaining relationships part is more difficult. Scheduling lunch with administrators, faculty and staff can become challenging when you're also trying to sustain community within your organization, do some writing/research, prepare for class, teach class and retrofit a building.
I'm not sure I always choose the right priorities, but prioritizing is the only way to go.
Rome wasn't built in a day, as the saying goes, and it will take some time and continued work to achieve all of our strategic goals. I guess the point is to move steadily toward those goals and continually put the community first.
After all, people still take precedence over things. I learned that in my reporting classes many years ago. And it's still as relevant today.
